Slider inspecting machine



1940- s. 1.. BRADBURY 2,186,693

SLIDER, INSPECTING' MACHINE Original Filed April 10, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet1 INVENTOR.

. 1 ORNEYS. 7'

Samuel L. Bradbury Jan. 9, 1940. s. BRADBURY- SLIDER INSPECTING MACHINEOriginal Filed April 10, 1 935 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 51 INVENTOR. SamuelL.Bradbury ORNEYS.

1m 9, 1940 s. L. BRADBURY 2,1 6,6

SLIDER INSPECTING MACHINE Original Filed April 10, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 4lIIllII lllIllIH in M INVENTOR.

- 4 a0 5 Samuel L. Bradbur fl 9, 1.940- s. L. BRADBURY 2,186,693 SLIDERINSPECTING VMACHINE Original Filed April 10, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 5INVENYTOR.

Samuel L. Bradbury amma s.

MG SOLIDS Patented Jan. 9,1940

UNITED STATES Search Room PATENT OFFICE SLIDER INSPECTING MACHINEApplication April 10,

1935, Serial No. 15,732

Renewed May 26, 1939 7 Claims.

This invention relates to an automatic machine for performing variousinspecting operations on sliders for slide fasteners.

In the manufacture of such sliders they have to be made in largequantities from sheet metal by various operations including stamping orcoining, bending, cutting, trimming, etc. Such a slider usuallycomprises two wings of generally keystone-shape united at their widerend by a wedge-shaped neck. The wings have inturned flanges which, inconjunction with the neck, define a Y-shaped channel for the guiding ofthe fastener members. If the two Wings of the slider are spaced tooclose together the slider has a tight fit on the fasteners, and if theyare spaced too far apart then there is danger that they will come offthe fasteners. It is important therefore that the channel of the sliderbe accurate in size and shape.

The machine of my invention has for its object to provide mechanismwhich will automatically perform various inspecting operations on theslider, including one or more of the following: Narrow mouth inspection,wide mouth inspection, crooked mouth inspection, inspection for minimumdistance between flanges, inspection for maximum distance between theflanges, and prong length inspection on locking type sliders.

The machine of my invention involves means for automatically feedingsliders successively to a series of inspecting devices or gauges, andmeans for passing sliders from one station to another. It also involvesmeans for rejecting such sliders as do not pass all inspections, andthrowing them out at a different part of the machine from the goodsliders.

Preferably the machine involves yielding driving means for preventingrelative movement between a slider and an inspection gauge incombination with devices which will cause ejection of the slider if thegauge moves too far as in the case of wide mouth -liders, or not farenough, as in the case of narrow mouth sliders.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown for purposes of illustration,one embodiment which my invention may assume in practice. In thesedrawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the machine;

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section through the machine;

Fig. 3 is an elevation view of the feeding mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a cross-section on line 4--4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a detail view showing the holding and ejecting mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale showing theinspecting station for tight sliders;

Fig. 7 is a cross-section showing the inspecting station for the loosemouth sliders;

Fig. 8 is a detail view showing the passing of good sliders by astation;

Fig. 9 is a similar view showing the ejecting of a bad slider;

Figs. 10 and 11 are schematic views showing a plan and side view of thetight mouth inspection;

Fig. 12 is a plan view showing the crooked mouth inspection;

Fig. 13 shows the position the gauge should assume in a good slider in atight mouth inspection;

Figs. 14, and 16 show the wide mouth inspection with Figs. 14 and 15indicating the relative positions of the gauge, and slider when theslider is bad, and Fig. 16 indicating the relative terminal positions ofthe slider and gauge when the slider is good;

Figs. 1'7, 18 and 19 show the minimum flange separation inspection withFigs. 17 and 18 indicating one of several relative positions the sliderand gauge may assume for a bad slider, and Fig. 19 indicating therelative terminal positions for a good slider;

Figs. 20 to 23 inclusive show the maximum flange separation inspectionwith Figs. 20 and 21 indicating one of several relative terminalpositions of the gauge and slider, when the slider is bad, and Figs. 22and 23 showing similar views when the slider is good.

Figs, 24, 25 and 26 are horizontal and vertical sections the horizontalsection looking upwardly through the slider at the prong inspectionstation with Figs. 24 and 25 showing the condition for a bad slider, andFig. 26 for a good slider.

In Figs. 10 to 26 inclusive, there are shown various samples of atypical slider for slide fasteners. The slider comprises upper and lowerwings I, 2, respectively, connected together at their wide end by awedge-shaped neck 3. The wings have inturned flanges 4 at their sideedges which are spaced apart to leave a slot 5 between them. Theinterior Y-shaped channel defined by the side flanges and neck 3, isdesignated here by the numeral 6. If the wings of the slider are tooclose together, as shown in Fig. 11, the gauge I will strike against theedges of the slider instead of in entering, as shown in Fig. 13. If theflanges on I one wing or the other are distorted, as shown in Fig. 12,to one side, the same gauge 1 will strike against the slider at thepoint 8 and fail to enter.

In Figs. 20 to 23 inclusive, a gauge bar 9 has 5 pivoted thereto at II],a flange gauge II. The thickness of the flange gauge is such as toresist entering between the flanges any farther than the position shownin Figs. 22 and 23. If the flanges on one'side or the other or bothsides, are too far apart, as in Figs. 20 and 21, the flange bar ispermitted to move farther than normally. In the loose mouth inspectionin Figs. 14 to 16 inclusive, a gauge 12 is of such thickness as topermit entering only to the position shown in Fig. 16 unless the mouthis too wide. as shown in Figs. 14 and 15, when the gauge may enterfarther than normally,

Figs. 17 and 18 show a gauge 13 with a bifurcated end having a thicknessadapted to enter between the flanges of the slider to reject suchSliders as have the flanges too close together. If the flanges are tooclose, as shown in Figs. 17 and 18, the gauge is not permitted to moveto the normal position shown in Fig. 19. In Figs. 24 to 26 inclusivethere is shown a locking type slider wherein a pull tab M has a prong 15extending into the channel of the slider. A gauge l6 having an inclinedend I! is adapted to pass into the slider and against the prong. If theprong is too short, as shown in Figs. 24 and 25,

,the gauge is permitted to move farther than the Enormal position shownin Fig. 26. Thus sliders i with prongs which are too short are rejected.

For feeding sliders to the inspecting machine there is employed asuitable mechanical hopper such as shown in Lockie Patent 1,973,720.This mechanism arranges the sliders uniformly and feeds them down aninclined chute l8, see Fig. 3. In cross-section as shown in Fig. 4, thischute is shown to have a narrow supporting blade l9 and the sliders ridedown the chute astride this blade. They are kept from coming out ofplace by the overhanging ledge 20. At the end of the 40 inclined chuteis a guideway 2| which has an initial vertical portion, see Fig. 2, anda final curved portion. The endmost slider in the line, see Fig. 3, isreceived and arrested in this guideway on the end of -a bar III, whichis pivoted at H2 and normally kept in position extending into theguideway by the spring I I3, and then pushed downward by a verticalreciprocating plunger 22 until it comes to such a position that it canbe picked up by the oscillating feed finger 23. This feed mechanism isbrought in timed relation to the other parts of the machine. The plunger22 is normally pushed downwardly by a tension spring 108 but the plungeris intermittently pushed upwardly by a pin 24 rigidly connected to thebracket 25, which carries the plunger 22. The pin 24 has a lost motionconnection with the link 26 connected to one end of a bell crank 21.Oscillating movement is imparted to the bell crank from the main driveshaft 28 of the machine through a cam 29, bell crank 30, link 3| andlever 32 which is pivoted at 33 and returned by spring H0. Theoscillating finger 23 derives its movement from a link 34 pivoted at 35to the arm of the machine and connected at 36 to the link 3|. The upperend of the link 34 is connected to a link 31 which in turn connects to acrank 38, which carries the feed finger 23. The slider is carried by thefeed finger to the end of the curved chute and from that point it ispushed forward by a horizontal reciprocating slide 39, which is operatedfrom the crank 32 by a connection 40.

The slider 4|, as seen in Fig. 2, is in one of the several testingpositions on the carrier ring 42, which in the example shown, carrieseight recesses 43 for receiving the sliders in turn from the feedingmechanism. This carrier ring is supported by the wheel 44 which isjournalled on the hollow bearing 45. The wheel is intermittently rotatedone-eighth of a revolution by means of a suitable Geneva motionmechanism including the gear 46. The rest of the mechanism is not shownsince it forms no part of the present invention. A hollow stationarystandard 4! extends upwardly from the bearing 45 and supports astationary table 48, which in turn carries the various gauges andoperating mechanisms for performing the desired inspecting operations,and also other devices which will be described further on.

A typical inspecting mechanism is shown in cross-section in Fig. 6. Itcomprises reciprocating gauge holder 49, carrying the gauge 50 which isheld in place by a quickly removable pin The reciprocating slide isconnected at 52 with the bell crank lever 53, which is of specialconstruction to permit a lost motion connection between the arm 54 andthe end 52. The arm 54 is connected at 55 between upper and lower rings56. 51 respectively. to a vertical reciprocating shaft 58. This shaftextends downwardly through the hollow standard 41 and is lifted by a cam59 on the drive shaft 28. The shaft 58 is returned by tension springs 60and plate 6|, which is guided on studs 62.

Mounted on the carrier ring 42, see Figs. 1 and 5, by means of suitablebrackets 63, are the slider retaining devices 64. As seen in Fig. 6 eachof these devices comprises a slider engaging member 65, having ahook-like end 66, adapted to engage over a portion of the slider andconnected to a vertically movable plunger 61. This plunger is normallyheld upwardly by a compression spring 68 but throughout the principalpath of movement of the slider this plunger is held down by thehook-shaped end 69 of the trigger or lever 10, which engages over aledge H on the plunger. The trigger has an elongated slot 12 engagedover the pin 13 and the upper end is normally pressed inwardly anddownwardly by means of a spring 14.

In the position shown in Fig. 2, the trigger 10 is being held upwardlyby the inclined stationary cam engaging under the abutment 16 on thetrigger. The cam 15 is so located and designated that the trigger leversuddenly drops downwardly when the plunger 6! is directly over a slider.The timing is such that the plunger drops immediately after moving awayfrom the feed station shown in Fig. 2. In order to insure that thetrigger 10 will bear inwardly to hold the hook 69 in engagement with theledge H, there is provided a spring pressed retaining lever 11 whichexerts inward pressure on the trigger as it drops off the cam 15. Thetrigger spring 14 is sufflciently strong to force the plunger 61downwardly against the comp ession of spring 68, as shown in Fig. 6. Theplunger thus holds the slider in position firmly until the trigger leveris disengaged from the plunger by one or the other of the devices whichwill now be described.

At each station on the ring 42 there is mounted an ejector lever 18pivoted at 19 and normally held in the position shown in Fig. 8 by meansof tension spring 80. This lever has the; slider engaging arm 8| and atripping arm 82.} At each inspection station on the stationary table i48 is an ejector controlling lever 83 pivoted at 84 and normally held inthe position shown in;

Fig. 9 by the tension spring 85, which is sufil- 7 lai ciently strongerthan the spring 80 that it will force the ejector lever I8 outwardly tothe position shown in Fig. 9 when the arm 86 is in contact with the arm82. It will thus be evident that a slider would be ejected when thelever I18 strikes the lever 83 during the movement of the carrier ringunless the slider were held by the plunger 61. Means are provided fortripping the trigger lever I4 and releasing the plunger 61 at thevarious inspecting stations provided the slider is defective but if theslider is good. it passes by all inspecting stations.

There are two types of mechanism for operating the various inspectiongauges shown in Figs. 10 to 26 inclusive. They are shown in Figs. 6 and7. The type shown in Fig. 6 operate to trip the trigger lever I when theinspecting gauge is not allowed to move far enough, while the type inFig. 7 trips the trigger lever when the inspecting gauges move too far.In Figs. 6 and '7 the gauge holder is designated by the numeral 49. thegauge being designated by the numeral 50. and the operating lever by thenumeral 54, as in Fig. 2. Means are provided for resiliently connectingthe arm 54 with the actuating arm 81. Both arms 54 and 81 are pivotedindependently about the same center 88. A spring 89 serves to connect anextension 90 on the lever 54 with a portion of the lever 81 at the point92. Thus when the vertical shaft 58 moves downwardly, the lever 54 willoperate the lever 81 through the spring 89 to move the gauge holder andgauge toward the left, as shown in Figs 6 and '7, unless the gaugeencounters considerable resistance. This would occur in the narrow mouthinspection if the mouth is too narrow, or if it is crooked, as shown inFig. 12. It would also occur in the minimum flange separationinspection, shown in Fig. 18. In that event, the arm 81 stops while thearm 54 continues its normal movement. A bell crank lever having arms 93and 94 is pivotally mounted at 95 on the arm 81. During the continuedmovement of arm 54 relative to arm 81, the arm 54 engages pin 96 on thebell crank lever forcing it downwardly, thus pulling toward the rightlink 91. This operates through the lever 98 pivoted at 99 to shift thetripping member I00 to the left, to engage the trip arm IOI. of thelever 10. The trigger I0 is thus pivoted about the pin I3 and releasesthe plunger 51 which immediately springs upwardly. Thus if a slider isbad by reason of a narrow mouth, crooked mouth or flanges too closetogether, it will be released on the continued movement of the carrierring and will be ejected by one of the mechanisms which has already beendescribed.

The mechanism shown in Fig. 7 is designed for the inspecting stationswhich allow the gauge to move too far when the slider is bad. as in thecase of the wide mouth in Fig. 15, the wide flange separation in Fig.21, and the short prong in Fig. 25. The levers 54 and 81 and the lostmotion connection, including the spring 89 are of the same design as inFig. 6. However, instead of the linkage mechanism for operating thetrip, the trip member I02 is attached directly to the gauge holder 49.Thus if the gauge 50 encounters no resistance and is allowed to move toofar, the trip member I02 will strike the trip arm IIII of the trigger10. In Fig. 1 seven inspection sta tions in addition to the feed stationhave been indicated. However, in any given machine one or more of thesemay be omitted. I have here Search Room described five typicalinspections which may be performed by these various stations.

Particular attention is directed to the holding means which permits asmall degree of floating or movement of the end of the slider into whichthe gauge first passes. It will be noted in Fig. 8 that the recess 43 isslightly wider than the width of the slider M. This permits a limiteddegree of side pull and permits the slider automatically to align itselfwith the gauge. Also in some cases the slider may tend to align itselfvertically in view of the fact that it is rather lightly spring-held bythe holding block 65 bearing on round slider lug as seen in Fig. 6.

Assuming that the slider is good and has passed all of the inspections,it will come to the final station. In order to insure tripping of thetrigger 18 after the final inspection a stationary cam member I03 ismounted on the table 48 in the path of the trip arm II. The retainingplunger then being released, the ejector lever I8 is operated by thepermanent abutment I04 to eject all sliders which have passedinspection. An air jet I is also provided at this point so as to givefurther assistance of ejection of all sliders before the feed. stationis again approached. The air jet is supplied with air from pipe I06through the hollow standard 41 to the pipe I01 and valve I09.

As a result of my invention it will be apparent that a completelyautomatic slider inspection machine has been devised which will save anenormous amount of tedious hand work and at the same time, give betterassurance of good inspections of all sliders. The bad sliders areseparated and classified according to the character of their faults,while the good sliders are carried on and ejected at a separate place.

While I have shown and described in this application one embodimentwhich my invention may assume in practice, it will be understood thatthis embodiment is merely for the purposes of illustration anddescription, and that various other forms may be devised within thescope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. An automatic machine for inspecting sliders for slide fasteners,including means for positioning a series of sliders successively in acarrier, releasable means on the carrier for holding said sliders insaid carrier, means for intermittently moving said carrier to positionsaid sliders successively at a series of gauging stations, a gauge ateach station for inspecting each slider, automatic means for releasingsaid holding means if the slider is bad and ejecting such sliders fromthe carrier at each station, and automatic means for releasing saidholding means and ejecting good sliders from the carrier after they havebeen inspected at all of the stations.

2. An automatic machine for inspecting sliders for slide fastenersincluding means for positioning a series of sliders successively in acarrier, releasable means on the carrier for holding said sliders insaid carrier. means for intermittently moving said carrier to positionsaid sliders successively at a series of gauging stations. a gaugemounted at each station, a holder for said gauge adapted to moverelative to the slider, said gauge holder adapted to cooperate with theslider holding means to release said slider if the slider is bad,automatic means for ejecting such released sliders from the carrier, andmeans for releasing said holding means and ejecting good sliders fromthe carrier after they have been inspected at all of the stations.

3. An automatic machine for inspecting sliders for slide fasteners,including means for positioning a series of sliders in a carrier, meansfor holding such sliders in said carrier, means for intermittentlymoving said carrier to position said sliders successively at a series ofgauging stations, a movable gauge and gauge holder at each of saidstations, means for yieldingly actuating said gauge holder, releasingmeans for said slider holding means controlled by said actuating means,meansfor ejecting bad sliders from the carrier at each station, andmeans for ejecting all of the good sliders from the carrier after theyhave been inspected at all of the stations.

4. An automatic machine for inspecting sliders having an interiorchannel, comprising slider feeding means including a chute and aguideway for successively positioning a series of sliders in a carrier,a carrier, means for holding said sliders in the carrier, a series ofinspecting stations, means for intermittently moving said carrier toposition each slidersuccessively at each station, a gauge at eachstation, a gauge holder mounted for movement relative to the slider,means for actuating said gauge holder, means connected to the gaugeholder at each station for releasing the slider holding means if themovement of said gauge holder is abnormal, an ejector at each stationfor ejecting all sliders that are so released, and means for releasingand ejecting all sliders which pass said stations.

5. An automatic machine for inspecting sliders for slide fasteners, saidsliders being of the type having parallel wings united at one end by anarrow neck, the wings having flanges at the sides, said Wings, flangesand neck defining a Y-shaped channel, which comprises holding devicesadapted to grip a slider, a series of gauges, means for successivelymoving said gauges to said slider, and means for releasing said holdingmeans at each gauging point unless said gauge movesto the properposition, and ejecting means for ejecting the improper sliders at eachof the gauging stations.

6. An automatic machine for inspecting sliders for slide fasteners, saidsliders having substantially parallel wings with an inturned flange attheir edges and spaced apart to form a Y-shaped interior channel,comprising slider feeding means including a chute and a guideway forsuccessively positioning a series of sliders in a rotatable carrier, acarrier, means for holding said sliders in the carrier, a series ofgauging stations, means for intermittently mov-- ing said carrier toposition each slider successively at each station, said gauging stationsincluding a narrow channel gauge, a wide channel gauge, a crookedchannel gauge, a minimum distance flange gauge, a maximum distanceflange gauge. and a locking device inspecting gauge, a gauge-holder foreach gauge mounted for movement relative to the slider, means foractuating said gauge-holders, means actuated by the gaugeholders at eachstation for releasing the slider holding means if movement of saidgauge-holders is abnormal, an ejector at each station for ejecting thereleased sliders that are defective, and means for releasing andejecting the sliders from the carrier which are good and pass all theinspecting stations.

7. In a machine for inspecting sliders for slide fasteners, such slidersbeing of the type having a pair of wings connected at one end by anarrow neck, the wings having inturned flanges at the sides. saidflanges being spaced apart throughout their length, a maximum distancegauge flange which comprises the gauge plate I I adapted to enterbetween the slider flanges, a gauge operating bar 9 to which the gaugeplate is pivoted, said gauge bar being adapted to enter into the sliderchannel between the two sets of flanges.

SAMUEL L. BRADBURY.

